Donald Trump Eyeing Executive Order To End Birthright Citizenship. Legal Experts Say That Would Violate Constitution

7 months ago

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US President Donald Trump said he has discussed the move with his legal counsel and believes it can be accomplished with executive action.PHOTO: AFP

Now, this is the last thing we thought we would read right before the midterm elections.

WASHINGTON (WASHINGTON POST) – US President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order that would seek to end the right to US citizenship for children of non-citizens born on US soil, he said in a television interview taped on Monday (Oct 29).

The move, which many legal experts say runs afoul of the Constitution, would be the most aggressive yet by a president elected to office pledging to take a hard-line on immigration, an issue he has revived in advance of next week’s midterm elections.

“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits,” Mr Trump said during an interview with Axios scheduled to air as part of a new HBO series starting this weekend. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”

In fact, more than 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, have similar policies.

Whether the contemplated move is legal, Trump seemed to welcome the controversy his comments ignited. The White House has been intent on stoking a debate over immigration as a way to motivate Trump’s base to turn out for midterm elections in which Republicans risk losing the House.

In recent weeks, Trump has also repeatedly called attention to a migrant caravan making its way toward the U.S.-Mexico border, invoking it as a symbol of what he sees as wrong with the U.S. immigration system and blaming Democrats for a lack of action.

Trump, who has long decried “anchor babies,” said he has discussed ending birthright citizenship with his legal counsel and believes it can be accomplished with executive action, a view at odds with the opinions of most legal scholars.

“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump told Axios.

When told that view is disputed, Trump asserted: “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”